Friday, May 19, 2006

Thursday, May 18, 2006

we know that 4/5ths through the week it can get mighty depressing around here... so every thursday, in tribute to governmental graphic design, we shall post a real sign with our own made-up caption. feel free to submit your own caption under the comments tab.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

photographer li zhensheng hid more than 30,000 negatives he shot during china's cultural revolution under the floorboards of his home in harbin. they now form part of the politics of power: art & images from china's cultural revolution...

it seems that china's rise to power did not come overnight, and was not entirely bloodless. the theory of productive forces was the brainchild of communism and marxism to transform a large number of small agrarian villages into a unified industrialized economy. alongside this ambitious undertaking, mao launched a propaganda campaign called the cultural revolution in order to quelch the student & worker uprisings. this period in chinese history nearly caused total economic collapse, and the loss of an estimated 20-30 million lives. the exhibit intends to shed light on some of the previously secretive events through the photographs of li zhensheng.

Architecture and The Mail is a project through The Architectural League of New York that encourages collaboration. The premise is simple:

We will produce a series of 1000 unique postcards, each depicting a single unpublished image from a relatively unknown designer, and we will send them to a selected group of 1000 influential architects, urbanists, academics, curators, journalists, and critics, who will have the opportunity to respond. [... making unlikely connections, and creating unforeseen acquaintanceships. While this is admittedly a utopian proposal, our aim is to connect fresh ideas with those individuals who contribute to the development of independent careers in architecture.]

Utopian indeed, but the premise is great.

As a graphic designer, I've always found interest in the field of architecture. For many reasons. But mostly, I've always found architects to be more passionate/knowledgeable about their profession than graphic designers are about theirs. Most architects (from my viewpoint) are steeped in architectural history, its movements, styles, current events/projects, and the overall soap opera of their profession in general.

Not so in the 2-dimensional world of design. Our job is not as important as architecture. Not even close. This of course, is only my opinion.

On a more objective note, architects generally suck at graphic design. And that's okay, because it's not really their job. What's not okay is that they attempt it anyway - for presentation purposes, etc. The remedy, I think, is more collaboration between graphic designers and architects. More collaboration would be ideal.

While I'm not exactly sure if this collaboration is the goal of The League's project, through loopholes, I plan to edge my way in and submit a few pieces. Interesting things could happen if architecture tapped into those un-jaded "unknown" free-thinking, fresh-idea-possessing graphic designers. No?

Thursday, May 11, 2006

so we found this in today's westword. yes-the mcart is the little engine that should. everyone in the design community is rooting for it, but the damn thing cannot seem to make it up over that steep hill called 'mount cashflow'. originally , the project budgeted in around $6 million, and since then has over doubled with the adjaye design estimated at $15 million. it seems the crew is still looking for that misplaced toothfairy money.the article calls for public support. and why not? the city of denver is givng all this money to clyfford still's mauseleum museum. and although that would be nice-heres why no city love for the mcart:1-$6,000,000 budget shortfall on 25, 000 sq. foot building2-developer's relationship to board of mcart3-mcart operates entirely on private funds4-design team was selected only after 'pro bono' availability

now we don't know about everyone else, but if we were the city of denver, we wouldn't want to touch this thing with another city's pole. litigation & and an ethics nightmare. not to mention the bad name given to all designers who work hard for the money. but i digress...

one of my favorite parts of the article came when it quoted the introductory speaker for mr. adjaye, ian ruskey:

'He said that he and his fellow students had picked Adjaye because they really liked the way he talked, mentioning not only his ideas about architecture, but his "neat accent," too.'

what?! holy crap ruskey. even if you were joking, we can't forgive you for that one. was it this PS1 you attended? or this one? so much for speech & poise. we can imagine you saying that with your pink hard hat on...

weve seen mr adjaye speak, and he is a modest man with good ideas and will eventually need no introduction. in england he has built scores of provocative houses, and the new idea store campaign is a hit. but until he gets mcart exposed, he will need one in this country.

so we say to you dear reader[s], that you must support the cause and not the method. impossible? maybe. denver deserves a space like this. so we end with some advice to the head[s] at mcart:

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

we thought keeping this fresh in our short-termed & easily forgotten memory. for a few years now, denver has been looking to expand its city & county court/correctional facilities along the civic center corridor. [btw whats up wit dat?]evidently just in time- [good heavens, the felons are sleeping on the floor... in sleds!]the two design architects have negotiated their fees, and the master plan architect of the new Justice Center [painful memories] has already fought some very strange battles with this city before. who cares about the local guys anyway? let's hear about the big stars. on budget? meet guidelines? psssh..these terms don't apply. watercolors make pretty. classical make stinky. who chose this schwartzenegger & de vito team anyway?for certain-those judges and prosecutors will be the most tranquil on earth if we can just pay that man his money.in the mean time, maybe the inmates can convince their neighbors to lend them some sugah.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Monday, May 08, 2006

we're posting this again here even though we already informed archinect of it, but it was worth a repeat.

"...critical mass is not an organization, it's an unorganized coincidence. It's a movement ... of bicycles, in the streets. Accordingly, this isn't the official Critical Mass web page, because there is no official Critical Mass web page. There are, however, a bunch of unofficial web pages."

...a few things about Denver: "One, policemen here are conservative, and two,it's not a bike-friendly town. But I will say this: Critical Mass has grownexponentially since the price of gas started going up."

he's right about that. in a city that claims to be a "bike friendly" city, there sure are a lot of motorists who would give a shit for anyone on less than 4 wheels.

one account from afriend nearly being run off the road by some jerry in a large suv: "asshole", shouts the jerry out his larger-than-his-ego-but-smaller-than-his-wife-size-window, then speeds to the next stoplight. afriend catches up to stopped suv at stoplight, opens the unlocked hatchback, and says: "asshole.." leaving jerry at the stoplight with an open rear-end. afriend pedals off in great laughter.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

a pixelated nod to an old friend- danny from NYC -a fellow designer and his blog werlew that he updates on a frequent basis...you can find it here as a permanent link from now on >

springtime is here. most of all weve been looking forward to upcoming parties every single weekend. the cheesy kindand the intellectual kind. nevermind that everything is turning green here. hard to believe that in a desert climate that gets 300 days of sunshine a year, we still feel isolated. good thing denver invented the cheeseburger to keep us company [not kidding], or those parties would be meaningless. but this week, we trade our burgers for burritos on cinco de mayo since it is one of the largest of its kind in the usa, and make sure to attend at least one event. and while youre in town, make sure to see the body worlds 2 exhibit at the nature & science museum. you won't be disappointed i promise.

since this is a design blog, i must end on a design note. the newest development in denver is the future realization of the new clyfford stillmuseum. the organization has just announced the proposed building site- lo & behold it will be a gem amongst giants. also-some more information via blogspot fromthefloor

*[postscript]*from a private hard hat tour of the libeskind structure, to my shock, I found it will have very little or no natural light in the main galleries ['construction' section on the flash site]

and from word-of contractor-mouth, the scaffolding budget to finish the drywall in the atrium alone cost:

after considerable amounts of distraction, we finally present a digital cellar of news dedicated to the mostly unknown and possibly underground happening of art architecture & design in the rocky mountains from a point of view...

a word on the choice of name for this blog:

theartofwhere refers to the act of creation [specifically architecture] and offers a basic truth to the process of design. construction specifications-the written word of construction-offer the 'whatkind-how-when' explanation to building/making. construction drawings-the graphic representation-offer the sole purpose of 'where'. therefore-to design & make/build is to practice theartofwhere